Chapter 53: Harry & Daphne

Anemone Hall, Suffolk, England

May 2, 1987

Daphne smiled at Harry Potter as he carefully pushed the soil around the roots of her new Winter Rosebush. She had been in awe of the special gift from her friend. While it was customary to give gifts when first invited to someone's home, Daphne had not expected Harry to give her such a beautiful and sentimental gift.

"It was snowing when we first met," Harry had said with a sincere smile. "When Lord Prince showed this to me, I just knew that it was perfect for you, Daphne."

Daphne had seen a picture of Winter Roses in a book on flowers once, but her family didn't own any and her father had insisted that they were too expensive and that there was not enough of a demand for them as ingredients to warrant the family buying some for the greenhouses. Now she owned her own Winter Rose bush thanks to Harry's thoughtfulness.

"You seem to know what you are doing," Daphne teased Harry as she watched him continue to put soil around the rose bush while she held the bush steady for him so that it didn't list to the side. "I didn't know you liked gardening."

"Lord Prince gave me careful instructions," Harry admitted to her. "But I have watched Aunt Petunia tend to her flower beds."

Daphne cocked her head to the side, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder with the motion. "Does she like gardening?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, she loves it," he admitted, and he looked up at Daphne and stared at her for a moment as if weighing whether he should tell her more about his family. They had not talked much about his Aunt and his Uncle in the past. They had always been surrounded by other children, their other friends and it was hard to have private conversations in front of so many others. "My Grandmother taught her how to garden. Grandma Hyacinth loved gardening and she taught Aunt Petunia to love it too. Aunt Petunia said that it was one of the few things that she could do better than my mother."

Daphne watched his face carefully and noticed the slight frown at that. "Does your Aunt resent your mother?" she asked. The idea that maybe Petunia Black had resented Lily Potter was not uncommon for Daphne. She had a sister and there were times when they fought and times when they resented each other for talents that drew positive attention that the other lacked. Daphne was better with plants than Astoria was and that irritated her sister. Astoria was swifter in learning and mastering charms than Daphne. Clearly, Daphne would have an easier time in Herbology classes, but Astoria would always outmaneuver her in Charms. She wondered then if perhaps Petunia had resented Lily for being a Witch when Petunia was a Squib, but she didn't dare to ask Harry that. It would seem rude and she didn't want Harry to think she was rude.

Harry ducked his head slightly at that and Daphne felt a moment of guilt for having asked the question. "You don't have to answer that Harry," she was quick to reassure him. "It's really none of my business," she added hurriedly.

"No," Harry said, and his head snapped up, so he could look her in the eye. He really did have the prettiest eyes, Daphne decided. They were a rich emerald green. Her own eyes were green, but they were a sort of gray-green, not at all like the rich emerald of Harry's eyes. "The question was fine, it's just," he paused as he seemed to search for words. "I don't know how to explain it," he said after a moment. "She really loved my mom and it hurts her that my mom is gone," he said wistfully. "Sometimes when she talks about my mom, tells me stories of when they were kids, it's like I can feel how much it hurts her or at least some of how it hurts. But I think she did resent my mom too."

She nodded, her thoughts churning with the new information. "Harry, they were siblings and I think it's okay that she resented your mom at least a little bit. I resent that Astoria is so talented in charms. I am also jealous of her hair," she added.

Harry chuckled then. "Her hair?" he asked.

She smiled at him then, elated that she caused him to laugh at least a little bit. "Sure, she has beautiful hair," she said. "I love that she has mother's hair color and it's so wavy and pretty."

Harry laughed outright then. "Yeah, it is pretty, but your hair is too Daph," he said shortening her name. "Your hair is like gold," he told her.

Daphne laughed. "Are you going to make an ode to my hair?" she asked him playfully.

Harry flicked a bit of dirt in her direction then. "Perhaps you would prefer one to your eyes?" he teased right back.

She shuddered at the thought. "No, I think that you'll just have to keep topping the presents you get me. You made a big mistake here Harry," she teased him. "You should have gone with expensive chocolates instead of this. Next time I will expect you to top this one and that will not be easy."

Harry smirked. "That sounds like a challenge Heir Greengrass," he said.

Daphne smirked at that. "I hope you are up to the challenge, Lord Potter," she told him. She enjoyed teasing and taunting Harry. She always had, ever since they first met. He was quick to rise to a challenge and eager to prove himself. She liked that about Harry. She liked that he didn't let himself become too afraid to try things. She also liked that he wasn't a prissy boy. He was willing to get dirty, like now in helping her to plant her rose bush. She had many memories of Harry happily playing in the snow and in the mud by the Malfoy Manor pond along with their other friends.

"I'll never back down from a challenge issued by you," Harry countered, and his words sent a shiver down her spine. Why did Harry's words sound like a promise? She felt the tingle of magic in the air and she knew that it was Harry's. Had he offered her a vow?

"I'll hold you to that," she said and then she felt her own magic in the air, dancing and merging with Harry's own. She shivered at that. A vow then. She'd have to be careful in the future about any challenges she gave him. She didn't want to see Harry hurt because of their inadvertent vow. "What do you know about vows?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not much, but I felt it," he told her, his emerald eyes pinning her. "We just made a vow, it's sealed."

She nodded. "Yeah," she said and breathed out. "I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to trap you up in a vow. I thought vows had to be more formal," she insisted, and she felt near panic. How had they managed to make such an informal vow? She had never heard of such things. It wasn't in the book she had read about vows.

Harry blushed then. "I think our connection makes things different," he said.

"Connection?" she asked him curiously.

"I was going to wait a few years to tell you because we are too young for it, but," Harry paused and continued to hold her gaze. She saw the fear in his eyes and she wondered what he was afraid of. Whatever he had to tell her, it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Harry, just tell me," she pushed. She reached out with her free hand and laced her gloved fingers with his own gloved fingers. "I promise you, I won't be mad at you."

"You might be when it sinks in," he said. "You might resent me," he said, and his voice sounded so forlorn that Daphne felt an overwhelming urge to hug him. She squeezed his hands instead and silently urged him to tell her. They sat still and silent for several moments with Harry staring into her eyes. She marveled at his bravery. He was clearly scared that she would somehow reject him and dislike him, but he was not averting his gaze. It was as if as if he were drinking in the sight of her. It was like he was memorizing her face. This frightened her more than anything.

"Harry," she whispered his name.

"You are my soul-mate, Daphne," Harry said at last and Daphne felt as though the air was sucked out of her lungs. Soul-mate. She was Harry's soul-mate. The Potter family was renowned for always knowing that they had a soul-mate and feeling the great pull toward them. The lore of House Potter spoke of many instances in which a Potter would seek out their Soul-mate. The early history of their house spoke of the quest of Hardwin Potter to find his soul-mate. He finally found his soul-mate, Iolanthe Peverell, in Godric's Hollow and he settled down there when he married the beautiful woman. "Daphne, please say something," Harry's voice pleading with her jerked her from her thoughts about the Potter family legends.

She squeezed his hand again in reassurance. "You have to be sure Harry," she said softly. "You have to be really sure because if this is a mistake, it'll break my heart," she told him. She couldn't imagine accepting that she was his soul-mate, embracing the idea of a building a future with him only to later discover that he was wrong and that another person was his soul-mate instead. It would be too devastating. She couldn't imagine letting herself really love Harry only to lose him to someone else.

He squeezed her hand back. "I am sure. I've known for a few years now," he admitted to her. "I've known, but we are too young. I wasn't going to tell you until we were a little older. Old enough for me to court you the way you deserve," he promised her. "I was going to court you, going to win your affection and then I would tell you after I had given you a choice," he sighed sadly. "I should not have told you now," he said in aggravation and he pulled back, pulling his hand from hers and breaking contact. "If it hadn't been for the vow, I wouldn't have told you."

Daphne nodded slowly as she thought about what he was saying. "Alright, but you did tell me, and I know now," she said and then she reached forward and grabbed his hand once more and held it tightly, so he would not pull away. "I know now and I'm not screaming and running away," she pointed out. "I'm not running, Harry."

"Not ever!" she insisted with all the stubbornness in her. "You'll still court me, Harry Potter. I deserve it!" she said firmly causing him to smile. "And you'll still talk with my father about courting me and when the time comes your Regent will speak with my father about our betrothal and marriage contracts," she told him. Then she blushed and ducked her head. "We'll figure it all out Harry, but I won't resent you and I won't run away from you."

Harry gave her a relieved smile. "Thank you, Daphne," he said softly. "I," he paused then and shook his head. "You've made me really happy," he promised her.

She met his gaze once again and then they both laughed together. "Come on, let's get this finished, then we can find a game to play," she told him. She smiled when he nodded, and they worked in silence, finishing planting the rose bush. When they finished Daphne led Harry to the storage closet where they would put their gloves away. "Twinkle, Mother's Elf, likes to tend the Conservatoire, but mother says that I shouldn't make too much work for her, so, I put the dirty gloves here for laundry," she informed him as she pointed to a small bin.

"That makes sense. Aunt Petunia makes Dudley and I take care of our gloves too. She says the Elves have enough to do without us making more of a mess for them," Harry said lightly, he was thrumming with happiness and Daphne found his happiness quite contagious. They had a great deal to be happy about. Soul-mates were perfect matches and too few witches and wizards ever met their soul-mate. Daphne and Harry were young, but they had found each other. She now understood why she was always so drawn to Harry out of all her other male friends.

She took hold of Harry's gloveless hand and smiled as she led him from the Conservatoire. She led him through the corridors to the lounge where a board game was set up for them to play. It was a game involving blocks that were stacked up to create interesting shapes. Currently, the blocks looked like Westminster Cathedral. The goal was to remove blocks starting below the top without causing the construction to collapse entirely. "Do you know the rules?" she asked Harry.

"Yes, I've played this with Dudley," he said.

"Really?" she asked in surprise. "It's just that, this is a Wizarding Game. I know that there is a muggle version," she added as an afterthought.

"Yeah, but I've only played this version. Theo bought the game for Dudley's last birthday and he taught us how to play it," he told her. He then waved a hand regally in her direction, looking haughty like a little prince in that moment. "Ladies first," he told her.

She smirked at that. "You may regret that Lord Potter," she teased him even as she began looking over the miniature Westminster Cathedral to better determine where to pull away her first building block.

"Doubtful," Harry teased back as his eyes roved over the blocks.

Daphne carefully removed her first block and smiled in triumph when the construction remained stable. "Your turn," she said. She watched as Harry picked his first block and removed it. The building remained stable and it was her turn once again.

They played happily for an hour and Daphne laughed in triumph when Harry was the first one to make the building crumble a bit on one side. However, he got the last laugh as it was Daphne who made the construction fail completely. She sighed as she said, "Very well, you win Harry."

"How gracious of you to concede defeat!" Harry crowed happily.

Daphne hit him in the face with a pillow. The ensuing pillow fight was far from dignified, but Daphne had a great time and as she laid on the floor on the Turkish rug beside Harry, trying to catch her breath she realized that she had done something like this before. "We did this years ago out in the snow," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "You pushed my face in the snow," he said with a laugh.

She smiled. "You put snow down my hood, it went down my back. You had it coming, Harry," she insisted as happiness thrummed through her.

He smiled at her. "Yeah, I guess I did. We had fun though," he added.

She couldn't argue that. It had been a lot of fun. She always had fun with Harry. Somehow, he made her playful side come out. He made her laugh, made her smile, and joke, and feel at ease. She had always been drawn to him for those reasons. Soul-mate. She smiled at the thought. Harry was hers and she was Harry's.

"Daphne, can I ask you a question?" he asked her, and it was the tentative tension in his voice that drew her from her happy thoughts of them being soul-mates.

"Yes, you can ask me anything," she promised him.

"Okay," he said thoughtfully with a small smile curving his lips but then the smile vanished. "How come it took so long for me to be invited to visit you? We've been friends for years but, I've never been invited to Anemone Hall before now."

She frowned at that and scooted a tiny bit closer to him. She clasped his hand and smiled slightly when he squeezed her fingers. "I wanted to invite you sooner, but my father wouldn't allow it," she explained softly because she was ashamed of it. She had not understood the first few times that her father had refused to let her invite Harry over to play with her. When she finally understood it, she resented her father for it. "The Greengrass family has a long history of neutrality. Britain's politics seem to fall into three categories, Light, Dark, and Gray. My family has long stood in the Gray. My grandfather liked to stay out of the fighting. My father has followed his example."

Harry frowned as he thought about what she was saying. "So, your father won't be happy that we are Soul-mates," he said softly.

She squeezed his hand. "He'll be happy that you are my Soul-mate because you are a good person Harry, but he'll hate that The Boy Who Lived is my Soul-mate," she said sadly. "It cannot be helped though because you didn't choose to be the be idolized. We'll have to learn how to deal with that and the attention."

"I cannot give you up, Daphne," Harry said. "We are Soul-mates, we can't be fulfilled with other people. If I left, you then you'd never be happy with anyone else."

She nodded. "I know," she said with a smile. "It's okay, Harry," she reassured him. "Daddy is a smart man," she assured him. "He'll not like the political problems that our union might cause, but he has a few years before it goes public. He has a few more years to strategize and maneuver the family into a position that he feels will protect all of us, including you."

"He'd protect me?" Harry asked, and it was clear he had not thought of that.

She couldn't fault him for it. He was pretty sheltered by the Black family, and she agreed with their reasons. Children were precious in their world. Harry's protection was less about him being a child and more about him having defeated Voldemort when he was a baby. The public loved speculating about Harry and his future. Why the headline of the last Witches Weekly was "Who Will Be the Future Bride of the Boy Who Lived?" The article had been full of ridiculous speculations. It had listed several young girls from the prominent Light noble houses. Susan Bones had seemed a favorite for the prospect of being the future bride of Lord Potter. Daphne was happy to say that the young Lady Bones would never be Lady Potter now.

"You'll be family," she told him. "We Greengrass's protect our family, fiercely," she promised him.

Harry smiled at her then and squeezed her hand. "Alright," he said softly. "You know that I would do anything to protect your family too, right?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, I know, Harry," she said. She didn't add that she thought Harry would do that even if they were not Soul-mates. Harry was too good of a person to allow his friends and their families be harmed if he could stop it from happening. She just hoped that he was never in a position to have to protect those he cherished.


And now it has been revealed to Daphne by Harry that they are Soul-mates. I contemplated many options with Harry revealing it to Daphne. I thought about it happening later when they were teenagers, but I really didn't think that Harry could wait that long. I also think that Daphne would have freaked out about it as a teenager in ways that she isn't freaking out about it as a child. She's always felt as drawn to Harry as he has to her and now with him telling her they are soul-mates, she is accepting it happily because they are still kids and in a way that makes it easier for her to accept it. Children are wonderful in that they can take things that are complicated and make it simple. If it feels right to a child, they will go with it. For Daphne this means she and Harry get to be together always and no one can take her place in his life. It makes her happy. So, that is my rambling explanation as to why Daphne accepted it so easily.

Next Chapter: Michael, in which Michael Corner spends time at Gracewood Hall with his cousin Neville and their mutual Great-Grandmother Callidora.